0
• White House confirms Rubio, WB’s Banga, ex-UK PM Blair are members
• Erdogan, Argentinian president invited; no word from FO if Pakistan also among invitees
• Draft of charter doesn’t mention Gaza, disparages UN role
• Israel says board composition against its policy
WASHINGTON / ISLAMABAD: The United States has invited the heads of around 60 states to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a body established with the stated purpose of managing Gaza’s reconstruction.
However, the charter of the board, which does not mention Gaza by name, suggests that President Trump has begun to position it as a rival to the United Nations.
The document was sent to around 60 heads of state — including in Turkiye, Egypt, Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Britain, Germany, Canada and Australia — along with an invitation to join the board, said the independent Israeli outlet Haaretz, quoting several diplomatic sources.
The White House on Friday announced some board members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff; Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner; Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management, reportedly one of the largest private investment firms worldwide; World Bank Group President Ajay Banga; US Deputy National Security Adviser Robert Gabriel; and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also invited to sit at the board overnight on Saturday, his office said. According to a diplomatic source, the leaders of all three mediating countries — Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye — were invited to take part. Another diplomatic source confirmed that Argentinian President Javier Milei was also invited to join the board.
According to Reuters, the board also includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli-Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Diplomatic sources in Washington claimed that Pakistan had also received an invitation, but there was no official word from the Foreign Office in this regard.
At a press briefing earlier this week, when asked to comment on Steve Witkoff’s announcement that the Gaza peace plan was entering Phase Two, FO spokesman Tahir Andrabi mentioned Pakistan’s support for peace efforts in the Palestinian enclave.
“We take note of the announcement of the next phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and express the hope that these steps will lead to further stabilisation of the situation, and upscaling of the humanitarian assistance and an end to the suffering of the Palestinians,” he said.
Trump’s board
According to Haaretz, the document outlining the Gaza peace board’s responsibilities says it will work to “restore dependable and lawful governance and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, in place of other organisations.
The charter also implicitly criticises the UN. It opens with emphasising the need for “a more nimble and effective international peace-building body”, adding that durable peace requires “the courage to depart from ... institutions that have too often failed”.
The charter treats the chairmanship as a personal role rather than one linked to the US presidency, stating that “Donald J. Trump shall serve as inaugural Chairman of the Board of Peace”, with no reference to the office of president or to any fixed term.
Remarkably, the board’s chairmanship is not tied to the US presidency and does not end when Trump leaves office.
As chairman, Trump would wield sweeping authority over the body’s composition, operations and even its continued existence. He alone would invite states to join, renew or terminate their membership, appoint and remove members of the executive board, nominate its chief executive and veto any executive decision, subject only to a possible two-thirds veto.
He would have exclusive power to create or dissolve subsidiary bodies, issue binding resolutions, designate his own successor and dissolve the organisation outright or renew it at will every two years.
The chairman is also required to “at all times designate a successor”, who would “immediately assume the position of the chairman and all associated duties and authorities”, reinforcing that continuity of leadership flows from Trump’s designation rather than from any public office he or a successor holds.
The charter also ties membership privileges to financial contributions, carving out a special exemption for major donors.
While most member states are limited to three-year terms, the charter states that “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than $1 billion in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force”, effectively allowing wealthier backers to retain their seats indefinitely, subject to the chairman’s discretion.
Board composition against policy: Israel
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that the Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2026
